Step through the bronze gates, because Byzantine history is packed with palace plots, glittering mosaics, formidable walls, and emperors who rarely had a quiet week.
These Byzantine Empire trivia questions trace more than a thousand years of Roman rule from Constantinople to the empire's dramatic final siege.
Rome's Eastern Empire
Q: What did the people now called Byzantines usually call themselves?
A: Romans.
Q: What modern label is used for the medieval eastern Roman Empire?
A: The Byzantine Empire.
Q: Which emperor refounded Byzantium as Constantinople in 330?
A: Constantine I.
Q: Which modern city occupies the site of Constantinople?
A: Istanbul.
Q: On which strait was Constantinople built?
A: The Bosporus.
Q: What two continents meet at the Bosporus?
A: Europe and Asia.
Q: Which two seas does the Bosporus connect through the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles?
A: The Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Q: What ancient Greek settlement gave the Byzantine Empire its modern name?
A: Byzantium.
Q: Which emperor was the last to rule a unified Roman Empire before its permanent administrative division?
A: Theodosius I.
Q: In what year did Theodosius I die, leaving eastern and western halves to his sons?
A: 395.
Q: Who became emperor in the East after Theodosius I died?
A: Arcadius.
Q: Which language gradually became dominant in Byzantine government and culture?
A: Greek.
Q: Which language dominated imperial administration in the empire's earlier centuries?
A: Latin.
Q: What title derived from the Greek word for king became the standard imperial title?
A: Basileus.
Q: Roughly how long did the eastern Roman Empire endure after Constantinople's founding?
A: More than 1,100 years.
Constantinople Behind the Walls
Q: What massive defenses protected Constantinople on its landward side?
A: The Theodosian Walls.
Q: Which emperor gave his name to the walls built in the early fifth century?
A: Theodosius II.
Q: What inlet formed Constantinople's sheltered natural harbor?
A: The Golden Horn.
Q: What enormous arena hosted chariot racing and public ceremonies?
A: The Hippodrome.
Q: Which two color factions dominated Hippodrome racing?
A: The Blues and the Greens.
Q: What giant underground cistern supported the capital's water supply?
A: The Basilica Cistern.
Q: What famous column in Constantinople commemorated Constantine I?
A: The Column of Constantine.
Q: Which Egyptian monument still stands on the former Hippodrome site?
A: The Obelisk of Theodosius.
Q: What palace complex served as the main imperial residence for centuries?
A: The Great Palace of Constantinople.
Q: What ceremonial gate of the Great Palace took its name from its bronze doors or roof?
A: The Chalke Gate.
Q: What street lined with porticoes formed a major ceremonial route through the capital?
A: The Mese.
Q: What great chain could be raised to block enemy ships from entering the Golden Horn?
A: The Golden Horn chain.
Q: What nickname celebrated Constantinople as the successor to ancient Rome?
A: New Rome.
Q: What adjective described an imperial child born in the palace's purple chamber?
A: Porphyrogenitus, or “born in the purple.”
Q: Which neighborhood across the Golden Horn became a center for Genoese merchants?
A: Galata.
Justinian, Theodora, and an Imperial Comeback
Q: Which sixth-century emperor tried to reconquer former western Roman lands?
A: Justinian I.
Q: Who was Justinian's influential empress?
A: Theodora.
Q: What 532 uprising nearly drove Justinian from the throne?
A: The Nika riots.
Q: What word shouted by the rioters meant “conquer” or “win”?
A: Nika.
Q: Which great church did Justinian rebuild after the Nika riots?
A: Hagia Sophia.
Q: What does Hagia Sophia mean?
A: Holy Wisdom.
Q: Which two architects designed Justinian's Hagia Sophia?
A: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus.
Q: What feature makes Hagia Sophia's vast interior especially famous?
A: Its enormous central dome.
Q: What major legal compilation was produced under Justinian?
A: The Corpus Juris Civilis.
Q: What English name is often given to Justinian's legal compilation?
A: The Body of Civil Law.
Q: Which general won major campaigns for Justinian in Africa and Italy?
A: Belisarius.
Q: Which Germanic kingdom did Belisarius defeat in North Africa?
A: The Vandal Kingdom.
Q: Which people did Justinian's armies fight in the long Gothic War?
A: The Ostrogoths.
Q: What pandemic struck the empire during Justinian's reign?
A: The Plague of Justinian.
Q: Which church in Ravenna contains famous mosaics of Justinian and Theodora?
A: Basilica of San Vitale.
Icons, Councils, and Orthodox Christianity
Q: What branch of Christianity became central to Byzantine religious life?
A: Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Q: What title did the leading bishop of Constantinople hold?
A: Patriarch of Constantinople.
Q: What is an icon in Byzantine Christianity?
A: A sacred image used in devotion.
Q: What movement opposed the veneration of religious images?
A: Iconoclasm.
Q: What were defenders of icons called?
A: Iconodules.
Q: Which empress helped restore the veneration of icons in 787?
A: Irene of Athens.
Q: What 843 event permanently restored icons in Byzantine worship?
A: The Triumph of Orthodoxy.
Q: What artistic medium made tiny colored pieces shimmer on church walls?
A: Mosaic.
Q: What is the name for the screen of icons separating a church's sanctuary from the nave?
A: The iconostasis.
Q: What church plan places a dome over a central square with four supporting arms?
A: The cross-in-square plan.
Q: What 1054 rupture conventionally marks the split between Rome and Constantinople?
A: The Great Schism.
Q: Which issue involved the Western addition of words meaning “and the Son” to the creed?
A: The Filioque controversy.
Q: Which missionary brothers carried Byzantine Christianity and literacy to the Slavs?
A: Cyril and Methodius.
Q: What alphabet did Cyril and Methodius create for their Slavic mission?
A: The Glagolitic alphabet.
Q: Which later alphabet was named in Cyril's honor?
A: The Cyrillic alphabet.
Armies, Admirals, and Secret Fire
Q: What incendiary weapon could burn on water and terrify enemy fleets?
A: Greek fire.
Q: Was the exact formula for Greek fire preserved for modern historians?
A: No.
Q: What armored cavalry soldiers served as shock troops?
A: Cataphracts.
Q: What elite guard included Scandinavian and later Anglo-Saxon warriors?
A: The Varangian Guard.
Q: Which weapon became especially associated with Varangian guardsmen?
A: A two-handed axe.
Q: What military-administrative districts organized much of the empire from the seventh century?
A: Themes.
Q: What title was given to the military governor of a theme?
A: Strategos.
Q: Which emperor reorganized the empire during wars with Persia and the early Arab conquests?
A: Heraclius.
Q: Which Persian dynasty fought a final exhausting war against Heraclius?
A: The Sasanian dynasty.
Q: Which emperor defended Constantinople during the Arab siege of 717 to 718?
A: Leo III.
Q: Which Bulgarian ruler received the title of tsar after victories over Byzantium?
A: Simeon I.
Q: Which emperor earned the nickname “Bulgar Slayer”?
A: Basil II.
Q: What 1071 battle ended in the capture of Emperor Romanos IV?
A: The Battle of Manzikert.
Q: Which Turkic power defeated the Byzantines at Manzikert?
A: The Seljuk Turks.
Q: What naval vessel was commonly used to project Greek fire?
A: A dromon.
Silk, Gold, and Life in the Empire
Q: What long-lived Byzantine gold coin was introduced by Constantine I?
A: The solidus.
Q: What Greek name was commonly used for the solidus?
A: Nomisma.
Q: Which luxury fiber became a major Byzantine state industry?
A: Silk.
Q: According to Byzantine tradition, how were silkworm eggs brought from Asia under Justinian?
A: Hidden in hollow walking sticks.
Q: What deep red-purple dye signaled imperial status?
A: Tyrian purple.
Q: What shellfish produced the prized purple dye?
A: Murex snails.
Q: What strategic advantage made Constantinople a commercial hub?
A: Its position between major land and sea routes.
Q: Which Italian maritime republic secured extensive trading privileges in the empire?
A: Venice.
Q: What sweetener was commonly used before cane sugar became widespread?
A: Honey.
Q: What fermented fish sauce, called garos in Greek, continued a Roman culinary tradition?
A: Garos.
Q: What public institutions offered care to the sick and poor?
A: Hospitals and charitable foundations.
Q: Which influential scholar and courtier taught philosophy under Constantine IX?
A: Michael Psellos.
Q: Which ancient Greek author remained central to Byzantine medical study?
A: Galen.
Q: What branch of learning helped Byzantine scholars preserve and comment on ancient texts?
A: Classical philology.
Q: What collection of tenth-century agricultural knowledge is known as the Geoponika?
A: A Byzantine farming encyclopedia.
Dynasties, Diplomacy, and Brilliant Writers
Q: Which dynasty began with Basil I in 867?
A: The Macedonian dynasty.
Q: What name is given to the cultural revival under the Macedonian dynasty?
A: The Macedonian Renaissance.
Q: Which scholarly emperor wrote De Administrando Imperio?
A: Constantine VII.
Q: What was De Administrando Imperio intended to teach?
A: Advice on governing and foreign peoples.
Q: Which 11th-century empress ruled in her own right alongside her sister Theodora?
A: Zoe.
Q: Which historian wrote the Alexiad about the reign of her father?
A: Anna Komnene.
Q: Who was Anna Komnene's imperial father?
A: Alexios I Komnenos.
Q: Which dynasty led a military and cultural recovery beginning with Alexios I?
A: The Komnenian dynasty.
Q: What diplomatic strategy used marriages to build foreign alliances?
A: Dynastic marriage.
Q: Which Kievan ruler married the Byzantine princess Anna and accepted Christianity?
A: Vladimir the Great.
Q: In what year is the Christianization of Kievan Rus traditionally dated?
A: 988.
Q: What imperial ceremony impressed foreign visitors with elaborate ritual?
A: The Byzantine court ceremonial.
Q: Which sixth-century historian wrote Secret History and accounts of Justinian's wars?
A: Procopius.
Q: Which Byzantine princess married the Holy Roman emperor Otto II?
A: Theophanu.
Q: What technique did Byzantine diplomats often favor alongside warfare?
A: Alliances, gifts, and negotiation.
Crusaders, Ottomans, and the Final Siege
Q: Which emperor appealed to the West for military help before the First Crusade?
A: Alexios I Komnenos.
Q: Which crusade captured and sacked Constantinople in 1204?
A: The Fourth Crusade.
Q: What state did crusaders establish in Constantinople after 1204?
A: The Latin Empire.
Q: Which Byzantine successor state recaptured Constantinople in 1261?
A: The Empire of Nicaea.
Q: Which emperor reclaimed Constantinople for Byzantine rule in 1261?
A: Michael VIII Palaiologos.
Q: What was the final Byzantine ruling dynasty?
A: The Palaiologan dynasty.
Q: Which Ottoman sultan conquered Constantinople?
A: Mehmed II.
Q: In what year did Constantinople fall to the Ottomans?
A: 1453.
Q: Who was the last Byzantine emperor?
A: Constantine XI Palaiologos.
Q: What giant weapons helped breach Constantinople's defenses in 1453?
A: Ottoman cannons.
Q: How did Mehmed II bypass the chain across the Golden Horn?
A: He moved ships overland on greased timbers.
Q: On what date did Constantinople fall?
A: May 29, 1453.
Q: Which Byzantine outpost in the Peloponnese fell to the Ottomans in 1460?
A: The Despotate of the Morea.
Q: Which Byzantine successor state on the Black Sea fell in 1461?
A: The Empire of Trebizond.
Q: What Roman legal tradition influenced many later European legal systems?
A: Justinian's codification of Roman law.
The Empire's Echo Still Rings
If you kept every emperor, icon, and siege straight, your score deserves a mosaic in the palace. Continue the time travel with our famous people trivia or revisit modern eras with decades trivia.
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